Winds of Change
Another two months passed in this way harnessing Miwa’s abilities. Miwa had to struggle with dealing with taking punches. Mila preferred to call this toughening her up. Akiko called it reckless. Either way, Miwa became more aware of the abilities she was using. Now it was truly time to test all that she had learned. Tokori: Ready? Miwa: As I’ll ever be. Tokori brandishes her sword, and Miwa does as well. Tokori charges at her. Miwa simply creates a gust of wind to force her backwards. Tokori can’t get a good foothold when she was being blown backwards. As the wind stops, Miwa only smiles. Tokori: So you’ve mastered creating a single wind. Miwa: Next up. Tokori charges right back in. Miwa jumps up and use the wind to give her a boost up into the air. She uses that to give her an added boost to attack as she comes down. Tokori: You’ve got a good handle at that. Miwa: I had a good teacher. Tokori: Now. Use the wind to guide your sword. Miwa’s eyes light up as she commands herself. Miwa: Attack Burst. Tokori braces herself as attacks come fiercely as one by one each attack hits with force and speed. Tokori slowly begins to lose her grip on the sword. The attacks stop as Miwa realizes this. Tokori: Very good! That’s looking real good. Miwa: I stopped because you were about to lose your grip. Tokori: Safety, I know. You don’t want to hurt me. Tokori reaffirms the grip on her sword. Miwa: So then on to the next one? Tokori: On to the next one. Miwa: Defense Bubble A whirlwind of winds surround her as she creates an impassable wind that expands to force Tokori backwards. As the winds die down, Tokori reaffirms her stance. Tokori: Good. Good. Miwa: Move on to the next one? Tokori: You bet. Miwa: Wind Boost. Miwa charges in, the wind gives her a boost forward, making her faster. The attack collides with Tokori with such force it pushes her a bit backwards. Tokori: There was definitely enough force behind that push. Miwa nods quietly. Tokori: Now use your position. Miwa: Spin Cycle Miwa looks like she does a sweeping leg kick, but it was only to guide the winds around her. The winds force Tokori off her feet. She spins around in mid-air. Tokori places her sword in the ground and uses it as a base to get a foothold. With that, they stop. Tokori: Well. Looks like you got a handle on all your new little things. Miwa: (Sighs as she sits on the grass.) That really takes a lot out of you. Tokori: We’re making progress though. We have to keep pushing forward. You’re doing just fine. You just need to get used to everything. That’s why we keep drilling these. Mila simply watches, as always from the back porch, as Tokori tutors her. Mila: (Thinking) She’s managed to do so much with her. She’s gotten her to harness that power within her. Despite all that, Miwa has seemingly grown accustomed to using her power. With Tokori using the guise that this is all self-defense, then again she’s not exactly wrong either. Tokori managed to sugarcoat the truth, but for Miwa’s sake, perhaps that was the better choice. Tokori: Going to inside and get something to drink. I’ll be right back. Miwa nods quietly as Tokori leaves her to relax for a bit. Tokori passes by Mila on her way into the house. Mila: Its amazing what you’ve managed to do with her. Tokori: She put the hard work in herself. Tokori then goes towards the kitchen. Mila watches from the back porch as Miwa just lies on the grass. Mila: (Yelling at Miwa) How’re you feeling over there Miwa? Miwa: (Yelling back) Like a ton of bricks! Mila: Shouldn’t you be able to get up? Miwa: Don’t start Mila! Mila: (Thinking) Still, nice to know that she’s harness that hypnosis or trigger or whatever. She won’t go batshit crazy on us when she sees blood anymore. Though I’d like to know where or why that trigger was placed in her subconscious in the first place. I should talk to Akihiro in the psych ward about psychology and hypnosis. See if he knows anything. Mila glares at Miwa as she just lies there. She enjoyed the feeling of grass on her back. It was comfortable to her. Reminded her of home. As she lies there, a cat comes out of nowhere and lies on her stomach. Miwa: Huh? Mila: Huh? Where did that cat come from? It was a white and grey spotted cat. No collar, it was a stray. It’s tail hung in the air as it simply just preferred to just lie there. Miwa couldn’t exactly tell it no either. Her affinity for animals stopped her, not to mention she was tired from training with Tokori. Miwa unsure what to do just leaves it there. It wasn’t like the cat was clawing at her, or hissing for that matter. It seemed to just want somewhere to lie. After a few minutes passed, Miwa regained her energy and sat up. The cat leaped up and just sat there in front of her. Miwa looked it at closely. The cat’s breed was Napoleon Munchkin. Miwa had only seen pictures of the breed, but she knew it was true. Miwa: (Confused) What are you doing here kitty? The cat doesn’t respond. Of course not. It wasn’t human. Miwa: Come to think of it, we never did get another pet after my dog passed away. We thought about getting another puppy. In the end, we just never bothered. The cat mews. Miwa: You trying to say something kitty? The cat rubs against her leg. Miwa: You make it sound like you want to stay with me. The cat sits and mews again. Miwa: (Thinking) Its almost like you’re understanding me. Mila approaches. Miwa looks up at her. Mila: Don’t know what Akiko would say about this. But are you aware of Buddhist teachings? Miwa: I’ve never heard of Buddhist… Mila: Back in the day, they’re used to be religions of all sort. But a religion also talked about rebirth. Basically it means someone who passes away comes back in a new form, whether human or animal or something. Miwa: Really? Mila leaves it at that and turns and walks away. Mila: Hell if I know. But you never can truly know. Miwa looks back at the cat. Mila: (Thinking) Even if that cat really was Yukiko, it’ll give Miwa some solace. Something she can cuddle with and give her unrequited love to. The cat mews at her again. Miwa: I think I’ll call you Kazumi. Category:The Strands of Fate Category:Anime Episode